So now prison access is a problem?
I find it difficult to comprehend that we need a Fayette County Transportation Alliance subcommittee to determine if the roads to the new state prison in Luzerne Township are inadequate. Duh. The concerned residents of Luzerne Township pointed out this fact to Mr. (Ron) DeSalvo and the zoning board since the prison plan was unmasked. You don’t need an alphabet in front of your name or a club standing behind you to realize this.
Now the wheel is being reinvented because Mr. Krysevig, deputy superintendent of SCI-Fayette, pointed out what a blind toad could see. The roads are unimproved; access is difficult. The official route is the longest, most confusing route. Was PennDOT providing a scenic tour of the township or a direct route to SCI-Fayette?
The only access to Washington and Greene counties is by way of the ferryboat in Frederick unless you drive eight miles to Brownsville to cross the river or drive a half-hour to Masontown to cross. While the ferryboat is a historical and unique means of transportation, it seems to be impossible to find qualified persons to operate it on a regular basis.
When local residents raised the same concerns we are told there is nothing that can be done; there is no money, or we can’t do anything about that. Now we have Tammy Shell, alliance chairperson and executive director of the Fayette County Planning, Zoning and Community Development office, setting up the subcommittee; Mr. Bailey from PennDOT checking into why the longer route was chosen; Donna Holdorf of the National Road Heritage Corridor suggesting something similar; Mayor Norma Ryan asking for assurance Brownsville will not suffer from traffic congestion; Ron DeSalvo suggesting a new ferryboat; Jim Marzullo of the Fayette Expressway Completion Organization wants a toll bridge across the Monongahela, and finally Joe Agnello of the Turnpike Commission agreeing with just about everything, I think.
Good grief, this is the biggest example of poor planning I have ever seen. If I did my job backwards, I would have been fired on the spot. I believe they have spent too much time watching “Field of Dreams.”
The Dunlap’s Creek Historical Society is trying to arrange a meet-the-candidate for the residents of Luzerne Township. Watch for the date, time, location and candidates for township supervisor who will be attending. It is time we elect someone who cares about our concerns.
Cheryl Qualters
East Millsboro
‘Brain drain’ is nothing new
Claptrap (showy, insincere, empty talk or writing, only to get applause or notice). That’s all it is. Pure unadulterated, 24-karat gold-filled claptrap.
An untutored eye reading the Herald-Standard March 21 article, “Lawmakers to focus on stopping ‘brain drain,'” can easily be misled into believing that “brain drain” in Pennsylvania, specifically in rural areas, is something new and extremely unusual. The article reports that: A team of lawmakers, educators and business people will spend the next year trying to find ways to stop the “brain drain” in rural Pennsylvania. Does anyone find it odd that industrialists and labor unions are not included on the team, which apparently will help plan the future of Pennsylvania?
My father and maternal grandparents were Slavic immigrants from Central Europe at the turn of the 20th century. I treasure the many memories of my coal patch hometown where dad (45 years old when I was born) and I would sit in the yard and talk about cabbages and kings and many wonderful things. He would tell me what it was like growing up in the old country. He choked back sobs recalling the day at age 16 when he left his mother and dirt-floor home to go to a strange but promising new world on the opposite side of the Earth, never to see her again. He lamented that it was apparent to him that a similar fate would befall his own family. It was obvious to him that the coal mines would operate for the rest of his lifetime but not much beyond, and no other opportunities were visible on the local or regional horizons.
Dad was right, again. A great majority of my immediate and extended families drained away along with nine out of 10 of our contemporaries and those who preceded us and those who followed. At our recent high school all-class reunion eight in 10 attendees arrived from out of state. When you read the local obituaries pay particular attention to how far from home the children and grandchildren are living and how far away from each other.
The point on my spear is that in Pennsylvania “brain drain” ain’t nothing new or unusual. It always has been and continues to be a way of life for the landless, but brainy, peons. Real change for the better in our culture will come about only if someone having aristocratic powers becomes committed to the belief that it is better to serve in heaven than to rule in hell.
Toward that end, Herald-Standard writer M. Bradford Grabowski is urged to petition his boss to approve investigative reporting about why industrialists and labor unions are not included on the “brain drain” team, and how to integrate the state public education system with the military academies and schools. I understand that military people are high achievers. I believe such a journalistic endeavor would serve to help plug the “brain drain” and allow Pennsylvania brains to think for the first time since Albert Gallatin served as Secretary of the United States Treasury.
Paul Lagojda
Carmichaels
Abortion is killing
The commentary by Joan Ryan on March 20 is a glaring example of the faulty thinking of our contemporary society. Abortion is not just a procedure, such as the removal of a tumor or tooth. Abortion is not just the concern of a woman bearing a conceived child in the womb. Abortion is the direct killing of another human person. Lawmakers rightfully must discuss and assure protection by law for all citizens, as this is the first right of the U.S. Constitution – the right to life.
Furthermore, the 1973 Supreme Court decision was wrong as modern medicine and technology clearly indicates. Fear not, that decision will and must be overturned to assure the right to life to all citizens, born and pre-born.
Rev. Joseph L. Sredzinski
Pastor, St. Hubert Church